Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia of The Printed Page and is now on tour. According to Marcia, “Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.”

OHHHHH Myyyyy…..it was like Christmas morning last week!! Am going to have to give our mail carrier a very nicely filled Christmas card. Not even sure if I can fit it all in today. I usually hibernate in the winter because I despise the cold, which is a good thing, since it looks like I have a whole bunch of reading to do.

“Meet Me On Monday!”Blogging is a funny thing…we tell our most intimate thoughts for all to read and yet most of the time I find myself sitting and wondering, “who is this person!?” I know them…but yet I don’t know them! I want to know who the person is behind all those words so I thought of a great way for all of us to “meet” each other! Questions:

1. What will your Christmas dinner consist of?

First we start with: Example of an Italian Christmas feast (from an email I received)ANTIPASTO then LASAGNA or MANICOTTI (depending on what you had last year) with MEAT IN THE GRAVY then SOUP Now we get to the Meal: TURKEY STUFFING ROASTED POTATOES BROCCOLI RABE ROASTED RED PEPPERS SAUTEED MUSHROOMS SAUTEED STRINGBEANS ALMONDINE THE BREAD (that nonna made) and GOD FORBID YOU FORGET THE SALAD!!! To wash it all down, we had: HOMEMADE WINE CHESTNUTS MIXED NUTS FRESH FRUIT DRIED FIGS and FINOCCHIO Then we started the dessert: ITALIAN COOKIES SFOGLIATELLE CANNOLIS’ and ITALIAN PASTRY (just in case we missed something) During this feast we enjoyed a nice EXPRESSO with MARIE BRIZARD ANISETTE or ROMANA SAMBUCA Then after that we needed a little something for DIGESTIVO AVERNA

And know you know why I talk about food all the time LOL

2. Do you watch commercials or flip through the channels?

During the day, it is set to one station, cable news with no flipping and when in the rare occasion that I might watch TV at night, I make up for the “flipping”

3. How long will you leave your Christmas decorations up?

About a week.

4. What movie makes you cry every time you watch it?

Home movies from long ago and especially when my

boys were young. Never fails…get out the box of kleenex!!!!

5. Do you have a Facebook?

Yes but the bigger question is…….how do I navigate it ???!!!!!!

﻿

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I received for review Lipstick in Afghanistan by Roberta Gately from Gallery Publishers.

Roberta Gately’s lyrical and authentic debut novel—inspired by her own experiences as a nurse in third world war zones—is one woman’s moving story of offering help and finding hope in the last place she expected.

Gripped by haunting magazine images of starving refugees, Elsa has dreamed of becoming a nurse since she was a teenager. Of leaving her humble working-class Boston neighborhood to help people whose lives are far more difficult than her own. No one in her family has ever escaped poverty, but Elsa has a secret weapon: a tube of lipstick she found in her older sister’s bureau. Wearing it never fails to raise her spirits and cement her determination. With lipstick on, she can do anything—even travel alone to war-torn Afghanistan in the wake of 9/11.

But violent nights as an ER nurse in South Boston could not prepare Elsa for the devastation she witnesses at the small medical clinic she runs in Bamiyan. As she struggles to prove herself to the Afghan doctors and local villagers, she begins a forbidden romance with her only confidant, a charming Special Forces soldier. Then, a tube of lipstick she finds in the aftermath of a tragic bus bombing leads her to another life-changing friendship. In her neighbor Parween, Elsa finds a kindred spirit, fiery and generous. Together, the two women risk their lives to save friends and family from the worst excesses of the Taliban. But when the war waging around them threatens their own survival, Elsa discovers her only hope is to unveil the warrior within. Roberta Gately’s raw, intimate novel is an unforgettable tribute to the power of friendship and a poignant reminder of the tragic cost of war.

***I received for review Laney (The Brookehaven Vampires Series #1) by Joann Sowles from the author.

In a small college town in Northern California, Laney Alexander leads a regular, uneventful life–that is, until the charming and alluring Oliver Knight enters her world. Who is this gorgeous and mysterious stranger? Or, rather, what is he?

As Laney’s sophomore year of college begins, so does an unbelievable adventure–including a love she didn’t know she longed for. She soon learns that Oliver is not ordinary, nor is the rest of his family, including a sister who openly hates her and a brother who will stop at nothing for revenge. As she fights for her life, and Oliver’s love, Laney discovers that the fictional world of vampires isn’t so fictional after all. Nobody is safe, especially Laney, Oliver’s most important priority, and he will stop at nothing to protect her. With her mortality at risk, and a commitment revealed that she, without a doubt, knows she wants, Laney’s life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn…

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